Friday, November 11, 2016

New Beer Friday, Super Moon Edition (Nov 11)

Preamble Steve Siciliano

I pay little attention to the phases of the moon. I have no idea when it will be waxing, waning, gibbous or full so I’m always pleasantly surprised when I see a fully illuminated, orange-hued orb rising in the evening sky above the eastern horizon.

Watching a rising full moon is one of life’s simple pleasures, and watching the next full moonrise will be thirty percent more pleasurable because it will occur during the moon’s closest approach to the earth in over seventy years. According to astronomers, this “super moon” will appear fourteen percent larger and thirty percent brighter than a typical full moon.

If the skies are clear next Monday evening I know I’ll be sitting outside on the deck enjoying one or two of the new or returning beers that hit the shelves at Siciliano’s this week.

New and Returning Beer

Short's Double Magician, $1.99/12oz - "The Double Magician is a Double London-Style Red Ale. Deep mahogany in color with an off white head, The Double Magician has aromas of toffee, light citrus, and just a hint of roast. The Double Magician is medium-bodied with flavors of raisin, toffee, and a slight hop bitterness. The finish is balanced and dry" (source).

Dark Horse Tres Blueberry, $2.09/12oz - "Number three in our stout series, this stout is full-bodied and brewed with all malted barley and fresh blueberries added after fermentation. The nose is where you will begin to realize this stout is in a league of its own. Blueberry, chocolate and roasted aromas lead the way to a very pleasant drinking experience which leaves you wanting the next December to arrive sooner than last year" (source).

Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale, $2.99/12oz - "Northern Hemisphere was the first wet hop ale and it inspired the wet hop craze here in America. Wet—undried—hops go straight from the fields into our kettles within 24 hours. Because hops are incredibly perishable, using hops wet preserves all of the precious oils and resins for a unique drinking experience as evidenced by the intense herbal green flavors and citrus-like and floral aromas. Northern Hemisphere is part of our five-bottle Harvest series which features single hop, fresh hop, wet hop, and wild hop beers" (source).

Stone Double Bastard, $8.99/22oz (1 per) - "Originally brewed to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Arrogant Bastard Ale, Double Bastard Ale debuted in November 1998 as an amped-up version of that already aggressive beer. This heavy ale is appreciated by only a few, and that's just fine with us. We didn't brew this behemoth to please anyone other than ourselves" (source).

Stone Lucky Bastard, $8.99/22oz (1 per) - "Lukcy Basartd Ale was first released in November 2010 in celebration of the (lucky) 13th anniversary of Arrogant Bastard Ale. This powerfully complex beer is an amalgamation of three Bastards—Arrogant Bastard Ale, Double Bastard Ale and OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale — unceremoniously thrown together and then dry-hopped to excess, providing a fittingly immoderate blast of malty, hoppy flavor. Those Worthy souls who possess the nerve to try it will be rewarded with a delicious assault on their taste buds" (source).

Stone Emperial IPA 14 Anniversary Encore, $8.99/22oz - "From the imported white malt to the “Burtonised” water to the rare yeast strain to the most pungent hops Kent has to offer, we used all British ingredients to brew our “Emperial” IPA. While we may have brewed Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA with our own distinctively modern, San Diego-style touch, what good is history if you can’t rewrite it to suit your tastes?" (source).

Frankenmuth Christmas Town, $1.69/12oz - "Christmas Town Ale combines sweet toasted dark malts with American hops to create a medium-bodied spiced ale with a taste and aroma that is unmistakably Christmas. You will enjoy subtle notes of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and clove with our festive holiday-themed packaging to match the taste. Christmas Town Ale is a must-have brew in the wintertime" (source).

Goose Island Fulton Street Blend, $1.79/12oz - "Goose Island is proud to introduce Fulton St. Blend, a coffee ale aged with House Blend beans from our neighbors at Intelligentsia. Named for the street in Chicago that we both call home, Fulton St. Blend is a golden ale infused with rich coffee flavor and aroma" (source).

Deschutes Hop Trip, $1.99/12oz - "Each year around Labor Day, Deschutes brewers high-tail it over the pass to Sodbuster Farms near Salem for the hop harvest. After bagging these aromatic jewels, we hustle back and toss them into the brew kettles within hours of picking. Our reward: a pale ale with a uniquely bright citrus punch and fall spice" (source).

North Coast Bourbon Barrel Aged Rasputin, $23.29/500ml (1 per) - "Every year we age a special batch of our much-loved Russian Imperial Stout in Bourbon barrels. The depth, intensity, and complexity of the flavor profile of this special release, like its predecessors, make it a worthy tribute to Old Rasputin" (source).

Great Lakes Black Out Stout, $3.29/12oz - "Bold and dark as a power-less metropolis, our Russian Imperial Stout commemorates the infamous 2003 blackout that briefly left some 55 million people utterly unplugged" (source).

Dogfish Head Red and White, $13.99/750ml - "Red & White is a big, Belgian-style witbier brewed with coriander and orange peel and fermented with pinot noir juice. After fermentation, a fraction of the batch is aged in one of our 10,000-gallon oak tanks" (source).

Short's Cup of Joe, $2.29/12oz - "Cup A Joe Coffee Creme Stout uses Higher Grounds roasted fair trade espresso beans in every facet of the brewing process. Prominent aromatics of malt, espresso, and cocoa are abundant, and there are robust flavors of cream and coffee. This is the perfect morning night capper" (source).